Call It Sleep Themes

Call It Sleep Themes

Loss of Innocence

America in the early twentieth century was a study of socioeconomic contrasts. Those of Western European heritage had been here for generations already and were well settled in their White Anglo-Saxon neighborhoods. The influx of "new" immigrants, that is, those from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern and Southern Europe, including a large number of Jews, brought a cultural shock to America's system. Languages, cultures, and religions were strange; acceptance of these newcomers was not forthcoming. These "new" immigrants settled into urban slums, living in tenements, finding work which was usually beneath their skills, and raising families in a wholly foreign environment.

As Albert stated, getting up and going outside onto the earth did not change a man; getting up and going outside onto pavement did. Into this environment were dropped children who, in their attempts to survive and discover some identity, grew up too fast and became as rough...
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